Medical marijuana advocates hold rally to encourage patients to support the issue

IndyCann and Higher Fellowship founder Bobbie Young talks about Saturday's rally at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis, which invited medical cannabis patients to share their stories and advocate for legalization of medical marijuana.
Jenna Watson/IndyStar

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Rally-goers and organizers pose for a photo together during a rally outside the Indiana Statehouse held by IndyCann and the Higher Fellowship to advocate medical cannabis law reform, Indianapolis, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017.(Photo: Jenna Watson/IndyStar)Buy Photo

Scott Cooksey gives his son Timothy 18 pills a day. The 19-year-old, who lives in Terre Haute with his family, has intractable epilepsy and Rubenstein Taybi Syndrome.

The former causes Timothy to have seizures that cannot be controlled by medication, and he has a nerve stimulator in his chest that helps prevent them. The latter is a rare genetic disorder that affects his coordination and motor skills, his grandmother Nancy Lovett said.

Even with the intense medication regimen, Timothy still suffers from seizures and experiences anxiety, his family said. A Colorado doctor told them that medical marijuana — using parts of the whole plant and not just Charlotte's Web CBD hemp oil, which didn't work — could ease Timothy's seizures and improve his quality of life and motor skills.

The problem for the Cooksey family, however, is that they can't legally obtain all of that in Indiana.

On Saturday afternoon, Cooksey and those who had a personal connection to medical marijuana appeared to be in the majority at the Indianapolis Medical Cannabis Patients Rally. And that's where the gathering on the south steps of the Indiana Statehouse differed somewhat from the 92-county tour that The Higher Fellowship and IndyCann are currently on, said Bobbie Young, founder of both organizations.

The tour legalizing medical cannabis is targeted at people who might not be familiar with the issue. The gatherings are meant to educate the general public, to encourage them to become involved and to vote, she said after the rally.

"Due to the severe callout, the patients constantly contacting us, today's rally was specifically for them, mainly to give them back their confidence, to let them know it's OK to support this issue and it's OK to stand up for it," Young said.

Saturday's crowd wanted full legalization of medical marijuana, and advocates said they are continuing to work with lawmakers on the issue.

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill has been among vocal opponents of legalizing marijuana. In a June op-ed in IndyStar, Hill wrote that medicines with isolated components of cannabis, cannabinoids and synthetic derivatives are available already and unopposed.

"Simply legalizing 'marijuana as medicine' is just a timid way of tiptoeing into waters that conscientious lawmakers know in their hearts should be avoided," he wrote.

Young kicked off the rally, which numbered about 40 people, and introduced a slate of speakers that included Jeff Staker, an organizer with Hoosier Veterans for Medical Cannabis, Inc. and nurses Jeanetta Bolser, Anita Martin and Colleen Larivee.

After his speech, Staker expressed support for the new law that limits the amount of opioids prescribed to patients to avoid addiction. He supports the governor's drug abuse agenda but said an alternative must exist.

"If we didn't have anything beneficial to turn to, those patients that were taking opiates like I did for a long time were (running into) addiction, so they end up turning to street drugs unless they lived in a state that provided medical cannabis," Staker said.

Staker has been advocating for legalization for a little more than a year, when a doctor told him to stop using Oxycontin to fight pain from a back injury he suffered as a Marine. As a firefighter at Grissom Air Reserve Base, Staker cannot use marijuana to alleviate the pain, but believes it would help him.

"A lot of citizens ... are dying. There's a smoking gun, and that gun is in the governor's hands," Staker said. "And that's what you've got to make it look like because he's not listening to us any other way. He thinks he can win this war, and he's not going to do it."

Bolser, a mental health nurse, said after her speech that cannabis can improve the quality of life and cut down on medicines since so many have side effects that require other pills.

"I do believe (marijuana) needs to be regulated, and it needs to be benefitting those who need it. ... This is for people who need medical care and relief," said Bolser, who's a mental health nurse.

She declined to say where she worked because she didn't want her advocacy to conflict with her employer.

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From left, registered nurses Anita Martin, Colleen Larivee and Jeanetta Bolser are recognized and called to speak during a rally outside the Indiana Statehouse held by IndyCann and the Higher Fellowship to advocate medical cannabis law reform, Indianapolis, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017.(Photo: Jenna Watson/IndyStar)

Martin, who is retired from nursing, said that smoking marijuana reduces pain and inflammation, among other issues caused by her Crohn's disease.

Abbie Bennett and Forrest Franck traveled to Indianapolis from Bloomington to be among the rally participants. Bennett suffers from epilepsy, and she found that her expensive prescription drugs were ineffective, gave her trouble sleeping and made her feel "emotionally off."

"I've tried a lot of different medications and they make feel ... mental fog, and they don't really work," Bennett said.

Since Bennett began inhaling the vapors from heating up a wax concentrate about nine months ago, she said her seizures have disappeared. She hasn't yet looked into the newly legalized cannabidiol treatment for epilepsy patients, she said.

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From left, registered nurses Anita Martin, Colleen Larivee and Jeanetta Bolser are recognized and called to speak during a rally outside the Indiana Statehouse held by IndyCann and the Higher Fellowship to advocate medical cannabis law reform, Indianapolis, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017.
Jenna Watson/IndyStar

Nathaniel Lineberry listens during a rally outside the Indiana Statehouse held by IndyCann and the Higher Fellowship to advocate medical cannabis law reform, Indianapolis, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017. Lineberry lives with Multiple Sclerosis and is currently rehabilitating from a stroke. Lineberry feels he could manage symptoms from both with medical cannabis oil, an alternative to opioids, enabling him to get back to work faster.
Jenna Watson/IndyStar

People gather to listen to speakers during a rally outside the Indiana Statehouse held by IndyCann and the Higher Fellowship to advocate medical cannabis law reform, Indianapolis, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017.
Jenna Watson/IndyStar

Rally-goers and organizers pose for a photo together during a rally outside the Indiana Statehouse held by IndyCann and the Higher Fellowship to advocate medical cannabis law reform, Indianapolis, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017.
Jenna Watson/IndyStar

Ashley Marie Long speaks during a rally outside the Indiana Statehouse held by IndyCann and the Higher Fellowship to advocate medical cannabis law reform, Indianapolis, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017.
Jenna Watson/IndyStar